Oh, the good ol’ Facebook phone. Rumored about for years now and somewhat making its way to consumers if you recall the HTC Status which had a dedicated Share button for one-click uploads to the social network. Sales of the Status weren’t so hot which begs the question, can an official Facebook phone do well in the marketplace? We’ll get into that in a minute.
Bloomberg claims in a new report that Facebook is not only working on their very own phone, but with HTC, a popular manufacturer of Android powered smartphones and tablets. This seems like a very viable partnership because we sure as heck wouldn’t see them working with Motorola Mobility which is now owned by Google, the big G having their own social network, Google+.
Details are of course rather slim at this point, but it seems that a Facebook phone is inevitable. The social network has amassed an incredible userbase approaching 1 Billion, not to mention half of the current 900 Million users access Facebook on a mobile device. As far as the Facebook phone being a success, it just seems very unlikely. Thing is, most consumers are comfortable with and trust Android and iOS.
Facebook doesn’t seem to have that same level of trust even though it will be running Android. A lot of people use it because it just so happens to be the best place to keep in touch with their friends and family. Also, there’s already a ton of choices when it comes to Android devices. To cut through the noise is incredibly difficult. Lastly, why a Facebook phone when there are already mobile apps and a mobile website? All something to consider.